Summary
EU Treasury report
This week there was much debate over the Treasury report which modelled how leaving the EU would affect the economy. Tim Harford speaks to the Spectator’s Fraser Nelson about how the document was presented to the public, and how it was reported. Chris Giles of the Financial Times explains that there are useful points to take from the Treasury’s analysis.
Hinckley Point nuclear power station
What is the most expensive “object” ever built? The environmental charity Greenpeace has claimed it is set to be the most expensive object on Earth. But could it really cost more to build than the Great Pyramids? We take a look at some of the most costly building projects on the planet.
Chances of serving on a jury
A listener in Scotland is curious to know what the chances are of being selected for jury service. Several of his family members have received summons, but he has not. We look at who is eligible to serve, and what your odds are of receiving a summons.
European Girls Maths Olympiad
Last week we told the story of how the European Girls Maths Olympiad (EGMO) came into being. We followed the UK team on their recent journey to Romania to compete against 38 other teams from Europe and around the world.
Life expectancy of a Pope
In 2014 Pope Francis alluded to the fact he didn’t expect to live more than another two or three years. A group of statisticians have taken a look at the life expectancy of popes over the centuries and decided that he may have been rather pessimistic.
Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Charlotte McDonald
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello this is Tim here this is the longer radio for edition of more or less |
| 0:04.4 | first broadcast on Friday the 22nd of April. |
| 0:09.3 | Hello and welcome to more or less your weekly guide to the numbers in the news and in life. |
| 0:14.8 | This week, how did our young British mathematicians do in the European Girls Maths |
| 0:19.6 | Olympiad? |
| 0:20.8 | Is the planned Hinkley C reactor due to be the most expensive object on the planet? |
| 0:27.0 | And what are the chances of never being selected to serve on a jury? |
| 0:31.0 | But first, for Connoisseurs of the numbers behind the EU referendum, there was only one story this week, the publication of a Treasury analysis of the costs of the UK leaving the EU. What did they do to produce their numbers and should |
| 0:45.3 | we take those numbers seriously? Here's the Chancellor George Osborne. |
| 0:49.2 | The people of Britain want to know the facts before they vote on the 23rd of June. |
| 0:55.9 | The Treasury analysis steps away from the rhetoric and sets out the facts. |
| 1:01.6 | Britain would be permanently poorer if we left the European Union. |
| 1:06.0 | Wow, permanently poorer. Well, we want to offer you three responses to that. |
| 1:11.9 | A rant, a music review, and a cliffhanger. First, the rant from |
| 1:16.8 | the editor of the Spectator, Fraser Nelson. Fraser was not impressed with the Chancellor's headline |
| 1:22.4 | grabbing claims. Here's George Osborne, followed |
| 1:25.6 | by Fraser Nelson. |
| 1:26.6 | In the long run, GDP would be over 6% smaller, and Britain would be worse off by 4,300 pounds per household. |
| 1:35.0 | You could tell what the deceits were pretty easily. |
| 1:38.0 | I mean for a start that conflated GDP with household income. |
| 1:42.0 | So we tried to say the economy is going to be this much |
| 1:45.0 | smaller if we leave the EU therefore you're going to be worse off per household by |
... |
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